Voice of the Ancients
by Alias 2v10
Summary: The realms of old might have ended, but the gods never truly change. With the ancient knowledge from his book, the Kyuubi's strength is even greater, and this Kyuubi is more than willing to share that power with his latest container.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Elder Scrolls.

_**~Prologue**_

_Existence is a fragile and ever-changing phenomenon that no person has ever truly understood, and no person ever will understand for the sheer fact that no one realm would ever last long enough for it to come to pass._

_But there are a few beings that have lived through the death and rebirth of the realms many times. These beings have been called gods, demons, deities, immortals, and in some cases…_

_The Divines…_

_For the sake of simplicity, this conversation will be described in a way humans can understand._

* * *

"_Your firstborn did his job well, Akatosh. Most of the realms of Oblivion and the entirety of Nirn were devoured in mere hours after his rebirth."_

"**Yes, Alduin may have done his job mostly, but he still failed to fully complete it. As you said, some of the realms of Oblivion still exist, including Apocrypha.** **That means that **_**He **_**still exists, and that his book will still cause us problems, or do you not remember the damage his Oghma has already done to this new realm? The mortal who read it has become a wretched beast whose ten-tails have already destroyed much. This beast is surely the apocalypse of this new realm."**

"_Shall I renew my gift to the mortals, or do you wish to renew yours?"_

"**No, Kyne, it shall be your gift they know, not mine. I just fear that without a teacher in the art, they will have to resort to the knowledge in that infernal book. Forever curse The Void for creating that beast."**

"_It will be done."_

* * *

_**Many thousands of years later**_

"We've got to hold it back until Yondaime-sama gets here!" A ninja wearing a headband with the symbol of a leaf on it shouted before joining in the massive ninjutsu attack against the Kyuubi.

It wasn't to be though, as the Kyuubi let loose a short roar, before all the attacks that were coming simply passed through its body. What nobody could here though, is that even controlled by Tobi, the Kyuubi had said one simple word.

"_**Feim**_**!"** The Kyuubi roared, becoming incorporeal for a mere second before reforming, inhaling as it did so to deflect the second barrage. **"**_**Fus ro**_**!"**

The second barrage was hit by a widespread concussive force that stopped all of the attacks in place. Before the Kyuubi could start another attack, the sudden appearance of Gamabunta distracted it.

The rest is history.

_**~End prologue**_

* * *

_**=-=Chapter One – Muttered Wishes=-=**_

Blonde hair, blue eyes, whiskered cheeks, and a grin that could be seen across the village, those were the defining traits of Uzumaki Naruto, age 11, as he went into the ninja academy on the day of his graduation day. He knew he was going to pass and be the top student of the year, he had to be, he was going to be the Hokage!

Three hours later of the graduation tests; target practice, taijutsu spars, and a written test, it was finally Naruto's turn for the ninjutsu portion of the test.

"Okay, Uzumaki Naruto, please perform the replacement jutsu with this log." The chunin teacher instructed. With two clouds of smoke and a pop, the log and Naruto had swapped places.

Naruto was ecstatic; he knew he was mere seconds away from becoming a ninja! 'Yes yes yes yes! All I have to do is not mess up the transformation jutsu! I've been practicing all week for this!'

"Okay Naruto, for the last portion, please perform the clone jutsu. Please make between three and seven clones." And with that, Naruto's face fell. One failed attempt later and the instructor began totaling up Naruto's scores.

"Your final scores are: Weapon accuracy, failed; Taijutsu, low genin; written test, failed; basic ninjutsu, failed. Based on our standards, you failed to meet at least three of the four requirements. You have failed the graduation test." The instructor drawled out with a bored look on his face. "Report back here in one month to join up with next year's class."

"Whaaaaaaaat! C'mon man! Can't you give me a break!?" Naruto shouted at the instructor.

_**~Later that night**_

"Darn it! I could have sworn I had it!" Naruto's voice came out loud as he vented over a bowl of ramen as he sat at home. "If only it had been the transformation jutsu, then I'd be a genin for sure! I mean seriously, who needs to know the stuff on the written test? And why would I need to throw stuff at people if I could just run up and punch them?"

Naruto's rant continued on through another two bowls of ramen. While not as good as Ichiraku's ramen, he couldn't exactly eat out every night on his orphan stipend. As he settled in for bed, Naruto muttered something that he believed that nobody else could hear.

"I wish that I had something cool that only I could do. Then I'd have become a ninja today…"

And with that, Naruto drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_**~Naruto's mindscape, a few hours later**_

The first thing Naruto noticed when he woke was that he was no longer in his bed, or his apartment for that matter. He could tell he was floating in water, but didn't feel wet at all. As he sat up and opened his eyes, he saw a massive cage, and behind that cage…

"What the hell is this? Where the hell am I?" Naruto started shouting, looking around. As he continued shouting he never noticed the single red eye start to open from behind the cage, nor did he see the look of annoyance it held.

"This must be a dream, that's it! I wonder if I can fly in this one, or maybe I could…"

"_**Gaan**_**!"**

"Gaan?" Naruto asked confused, turning towards the noise before a small stream of chakra hit him, forcing him to his knees as he could feel his energy leave his body. Seeing the eye staring at him, he mustered up the energy to continue shouting. "What in the world was that, and what in the world are you?"

"**What that was is not important now. As for what I am… Tell me, what do you know of the Kyuubi?"**

"The Kyuubi? You mean the giant fox demon that the Yondaime Hokage defeated over eleven years ago?" Naruto asked, confused. "What does that have to do with this?"

With a smirk, the Kyuubi responded. **"It is impossible to truly kill one of the tailed beasts, even more so myself. What your Yondaime Hokage did was seal me into something that could keep my power contained. A newborn baby, specifically, I was sealed into you."**

This statement quieted Naruto for a few moments, before disbelief began to set in. "What do you mean, sealed into me? Is that why none of the other kids' parents will let them play with me? Is that why they look at me like that? Am I actually the Kyuubi in human form? Does…"

At this point, the Kyuubi's annoyance had grown again. Aiming at Naruto again, it spoke.

"_**Kaan drem ov!"**_ With those three words and another surge of chakra, Naruto felt all the fear and anger he had disappear.

"What was that you just did?" Naruto asked, now curious. "Can drum off? And what was that energy that hit me?"

"**First, before anything else, understand that you are in no way, shape or form me. You are a human, and a jinchuriki. Do you understand?" **All Naruto could do as a response was a simple nod of his head. **"Good. Now, I'm surprised that you could even hear what I said. It takes incredible natural talent to hear a thu'um without being incredibly well trained in the art. The thu'um, or shout, I used was 'kaan drem ov', also known as 'Kyne's peace'. With mastery over this shout, one can calm both the angriest or most fear-filled creatures."**

"Wow!" Naruto shouted, impressed by how powerful it sounded. "You've gotta teach me how to do that shout thingy!"

An annoyed, but relenting sigh came from the Kyuubi. **"Fine, I shall teach you the art of the thu'um. Know this though, even with the incredible natural talent you might have, it will still take many months at the least for you to even learn one word of power, let alone be able to call upon it in battle. Let us start with the most basic of shouts, the Unrelenting Force. First off…"**

"Unrelenting force, what does that do? Does it make me like a super-powerful warrior that can defeat any enemy?" Naruto's energetic voice rose above the low voice of the Kyuubi, getting a dangerous glint from its eyes.

"_**Fus!**_** Now be silent!" **The Kyuubi shouted, the focused blast throwing Naruto back a few feet, landing safely in the water. **"Unrelenting Force is a basic shout because of how easy it is, along with how little chakra it uses. The shouts are unique in that you do not have to focus and control the chakra yourself, but that the knowledge of the word will do it for you. Unrelenting Force is used to force opponents off balance, stop incoming attacks in their tracks, or with enough skill it can blast your target with enough force to send it flying away from you. In order to use…"**

"Wow! That is so cool! I can't wait to learn how to do that! How do I start…" The rest of Naruto's question was cut off by once again being hit by _fus_, launching him back into the water.

"**I said be silent! Now, where was I? In order to use this shout, you must understand and hear the words within yourself. Let us start with 'fus', or 'force'. The first thing to know about force is that when you push against something it pushes back. When using 'fus', you are pushing against the world, meaning the world is pushing back. In order to overcome this, you…"**

* * *

_**~Two months later**_

Naruto sat in his kitchen, staring at the small rubber balloon that was on his table. Every day after school he would come home and try to understand 'force' better, and finally after two months he had made progress.

"_Fus!_" Naruto shouted, aiming at the ball. Unlike his many thousands of other tries, this time he could hear the word inside of himself and could feel the ripple of energy travel out his mouth. As the word left his mouth, a blast of energy left his mouth at high speeds, hitting the ball dead on…

…and causing it to slowly roll the two feet it needed to fall off of the table.

"This is gonna take a lot of work, but at least I got it to move this time!" Naruto shouted, happy at his first successful shout. "Now all I gotta do is get it right before graduation! Only ten months to go!"

**_~End chapter one_**

**I hope you have enjoyed this first chapter. While it's not the first fanfiction I've ever written, it's the first one I am posting on this account. I'm hoping this one will last longer and be more successful than my past attempts. Before you ask me what other stories I've written in the past, I won't tell you. They are poorly written with tons of plot-holes.**

**Important notes:**

**Naruto is not a dragonborn, and will not learn shouts incredibly fast until he has **_**that**_** method of training.**

**There will be no dragons early on in the story, possibly not even at all.**

**I only currently have plans for one being interfering with the world, and have heavily hinted at which one already. There might be a couple encounters here and there with another one for comic relief.**

**And please, review on this chapter to let me know what you liked, what I can improve on, and what you would like to see in the future!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Elder Scrolls.**

**Well, I didn't expect it to be a smashing success day one. I guess like everybody else, I'll have to work hard, put out good content, and update consistently and frequently. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll see this story on the favorite list of one of my favorite authors.**

**Reminder, Naruto is not dragonborn; he will not learn shouts instantly. He will have to work hard for every word he learns, until he learns about the Shadow Clone training method, which won't happen until at least after he meets Jiraiya.**

**I will use Japanese suffixes and names for people, but not for most jutsu. It will still be the Rasengan, and the Chidori, but the summoning jutsu will be the 'summoning jutsu'. This makes my life easy, seeing as I don't want to go through the hassle of checking the name for every single jutsu. **

**This story will have a slow build up, meaning the action won't really start until the wave arc. During that arc, Naruto will NOT be able to tear Zabuza a new one. Naruto will be a well-rounded ninja with additional skills, but he won't be overpowering.**

**For those wondering, Kyne (also known as Kynareth) gave the gift of The Voice to the mortals, while Akatosh gave the gift of a dragon soul and dragon blood to a single mortal.**

**Now then, on we go to chapter two, I promise this one will be longer.**

* * *

**=-=Chapter Two – Cloudy Skies Ahead=-=**

"Again! _Fus_!" Naruto shouted, sending his rubber balloon off of his table and flying onto the floor a couple yards away. It had been a few weeks since he had finally begun to understand his first word of power, and his progress had picked up nicely.

"Yatta! I'm still getting better each time!" Naruto's voice was filled with enthusiasm, before slightly deflating. "But I could still punch it harder, but who would expect that to happen from me just saying one word?"

Naruto's training had been filled with sweat and tears. For the first two months, he couldn't even generate enough force to blow a fly out of the air. Until that one day, he had felt nothing, no signs that he was getting anywhere. For a while he had believed that the Kyuubi had tricked him, but those thoughts had been banished the moment he finally made the ball move. Since then, Naruto had gone to the Kyuubi multiple times for advice, but was rebuked each time on the fact that it was something that he should learn on his own.

"**Good." **The Kyuubi's voice echoed in his mind, another result of their constant conversations. **"But still not great. You have finally reached the correct amount of power, but your shout is still too small. It should be the size of a boulder, not the size of your fist. Once you have your shout to that level of skill I shall begin teaching you how to user another word."**

'How am I supposed to make it that strong if I keep training inside? I could break a wall or my table or something! And what word am I going to learn next' Naruto's loud thoughts questioned.

"**I have decided against teaching you the second word of Unrelenting Force, instead…"**

'Second word? What do you mean SECOND word? I thought that this was all there was to it!'

"…**It seems that I forgot to explain the truth about Shouts. Very well, I shall do so now. Each 'Shout' is made up of three 'Words of Power'. In the case of 'Unrelenting Force', the first word is the easiest word for beginners to learn, 'fus', which means 'force'. For another shout I used against you I used all three words, the three words being 'Kaan', 'Drem' and 'Ov'. I will not tell you what those words mean yet, as you are not ready to use that shout."**

'…Oh, that would have been nice to know a few months ago. So what word am I going to learn?'

"**I still will not tell you until after you have learned 'fus' to an acceptable level. Get back to work!"**

'Damn.'

_**~A few hours later, approaching a training ground.**_

"Finally, almost there, hopefully this one won't be taken too!" Naruto said. After visiting a couple of the training grounds and seeing some of his former classmates in genin teams, he was starting to get discouraged. As he got closer, he could hear the familiar thumps of fists hitting wood. Instead of giving up, Naruto decided to see exactly who was using this training ground. When he finally came within sight, he saw one of his new classmates punching away at one of the training logs.

'Hmmm, what was his name again?' Naruto thought for a moment, before shouting to catch the other boy's attention. "Hey, you! Your name is… Rock Lee, right?"

"Huh?" The boy asked, taking a break from his training. "Yes, that is my name! And you are Uzumaki Naruto! What are you doing way out here?"

"The same thing you're doing, looking for somewhere to train, mind if I join you?" Naruto asked, before noticing Lee's heavily bandaged hands. "Speaking of which, why are you training so hard?"

Lee's response came quick and enthusiastic. "Yosh! You may join me! And I'm training so that I can graduate this year!" Lee said, before adding on with more information. "Everybody in our class heard about how we have to pass in at least three of the four tests to graduate. Seeing as I cannot use my chakra or any ninjutsu, I have decided that I will pass with taijutsu as my main skill!"

Naruto's mood dropped from the mention of having to pass at least three, remembering how he had only passed in one of the four tests. He then gave a nod toward Lee, and took his place on the other side of the training ground. Breathing in and feeling the word within himself, he let loose with as much power he could.

"_Fus_!" Naruto's shout tore through the air for a few yards before dissipating. No longer feeling the need to hold back, his shout was the twice the size of his fist and traveled with more speed and power than before.

The results of the shout hitting the log were still nothing impressive though, showing absolutely no damage. What the shout did do though was catch Lee's attention.

"Wow Naruto-san! That was amazing! What was that?" Lee's voice called from across the training ground, before the sound of his jogging got closer. "I heard a loud bang and turned just in time to see whatever you launched hit the log."

'A loud bang?' Naruto thought, confused.

"**Yes, a loud bang. Anybody not trained in the voice normally hears nothing but a loud noise instead of the words, unless they have a great natural talent towards it."** The Kyuubi's voice sounded in his head. **"I would suggest you not give away your secrets on what you did just yet, unless you want me to not teach you any more words."**

'Okay… I guess so.' Naruto responded to the Kyuubi, before answering Lee. "It's a new jutsu I'm trying to make, when it's finished it'll be so awesome!" This got Lee's eyes to widen slightly before he got a downcast look on his face.

"I should have figured." Lee started. "Ninjutsu always looks so cool and powerful, I just wish that I could use it."

"Don't worry Lee. I'm sure you'll become a good ninja without ninjutsu!" Naruto said, patting Lee on the shoulder. "Now, let's get back to training!"

* * *

_**~Three months later**_

As Naruto lay in bed trying to sleep, his thoughts kept going back to how much his skills had grown. The past few months had been anything but easy for Naruto. Between school, homework and training his academy basics, he had very little time to practice with his shout. His grades were still subpar, his taijutsu was still mediocre, and he couldn't make a clone, but what little time he did have to train with his shout though…

"**Your skill with 'fus' is adequate. I believe it is time for you to start learning a new word."** Kyuubi said, talking to Naruto in his mindscape.

"Awesome!" Naruto said, lifting his head to look the Kyuubi in the eyes. "What word am I going to learn now?"

"**I have decided that the next word you learn will be 'Lok', which means 'sky'." **The Kyuubi began. **"This is the first word of the shout 'Clear Skies'. Not only can this shout blow away nearby fog and clouds, but it can also be used to remove the fog from one's own mind. With this shout, low level genjutsu can be blown away.**

"Wow, the ability to blow away genjutsu." Naruto said, getting a confused look on his face after a moment. "But wait… It only works on low level genjutsu?"

"**With only one word yes, it only works on low level genjutsu. The higher level genjutsu can cloud more of your mind, making your shout at the best give you only brief freedom from it."** The Kyuubi's voice responded from behind the cage. **"Some genjutsu even get stronger if they are disrupted but not dispelled, so be careful with this shout."**

"I will, don't worry." Naruto's voice said, while he slowly faded from his mindscape into a deeper sleep.

Now alone, the Kyuubi's eyes closed. **'But even at its full power being used by a master 'Clear Skies' is no match for those accursed eyes and their mind control.'**

* * *

_**~Time skip, Naruto's second graduation exam**_

"The final part of this year's exam will be the taijutsu spars." The teacher called, bringing Naruto's attention back to the front.

'Yes, this year I have it for sure!' Naruto thought, thinking back to his day so far. He had managed to score low genin for the weapon accuracy, earning him a passing grade. While he had failed the written test again, this year's ninjutsu test had been the replacement and transformation jutsu, which he had passed with mid genin scores. 'Now all I need to do is make a good showing in the spar.' With that, Naruto caught his name being assigned a match.

"…and Uzumaki Naruto will be in the 7th ring." The teacher's voice drawled on. Naruto quickly took up his place across his assigned ring from his opponent, not paying attention to who he had been paired with. With the ding of the bell, Naruto charged.

'All I need to do is land one good blow and I'm set!' Naruto thought while he charged in to try to get an early haymaker off. His plan was thwarted though when he suddenly was struck with feather-light touches. As he began to black out, he could hear the teacher's voice.

"The winner in the 7th ring is Hyuuga Neji."

'Well shit…'

_**~A few minutes later, infirmary,**_

"Weapon accuracy: low genin; written test: failed; ninjutsu: mid genin; taijutsu: failed. Report back here in one month to join up with next year's class." The teacher's voice said to him before the teacher left the room.

"Geez, he sounded even more bored than the last one." Naruto groaned, standing up and leaving the building, glowering at the dark clouds overhead. 'Even with how much I've improved, all it took was one screw-up and I'm back where I started. I mean seriously, it had to be Neji… Oh well, at least next year will be easier. What do you think, Kyuubi, what should I do now?'

"**It has been quite a few months since I gave you 'Lok' and you've grown skilled enough with it. Tomorrow I will teach you the first word to one of my personal favorite shouts, 'Aura Whisper'." **The Kyuubi responded

With that, Naruto went towards his normal training grounds, but turned away at the sight of Lee proudly wearing his new headband while doing pushups.

'Well,' Naruto thought, 'I guess there's always tomorrow.' Downtrodden, Naruto trudged back home. As he neared the village, the clouds finally opened up, rain pouring down. "Lok!" Naruto's shouted at the sky, sending an invisible pulse of chakra towards the clouds. While the clouds didn't part and the sun didn't come out, the rain surprisingly slowed to a stop.

"Wow." Naruto said. "That's the first time I've actually managed to get it to reach that far, I am getting better!" With his mood improved, Naruto made a quick stop by Ichiraku Ramen for dinner before going home.

_**~End Chapter two**_

**Well, there's chapter two. Like I said before I would appreciate reviews to tell me how I'm doing. This story is going to have one more 'filler/training' chapter before it picks up with the canon storyline. I'll keep the updates steady, and hopefully growing longer as it goes!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Elder Scrolls.**

**Well... Ummm... Oops... I should have at least put a message saying that my old laptop had died... 9 months since my last update to this story. Well, I have a new laptop now, and that gives me the privacy I like to write with. Believe me, having my little sister trying to look over my shoulder for everything can get really annoying. Plus, having a full time job that pays just over minimum wage takes up tons of my time. Oh well, here's to me getting this story back on track! Also, while playing the Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim, Miraak gave me an amazing idea for later in the story. I'm pretty sure that it's just because of the timing that I hit him with... but... 'Yol nah kest'... Yeah, my archer got pretty well scorched by that surprise.**

**Here we go! Chapter 3!**

* * *

**=-=Chapter Three – Making Progress=-=**

_**~Three months later...**_

"_Laas._"

Aura whisper, a shout that shows the life force of all humans and creatures nearby. Such an incredible sensory ability would have been the envy of all except those with the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, if not for one simple problem...

"**Okay, brat, I will admit that it was amusing for the first two months, but seriously. If all you can manage with 'Laas' is ten meters, for two seconds, then perhaps it is time to give up on it." **The Kyuubi sighed. **"Even though all your classmates can hear is a sigh coming from you, they probably are thinking that something is wrong with you."**

'Come on!' Naruto whined as he projected his thoughts to the Kyuubi. 'The fact that I can even get that is awesome! Just because you say I should be able to get one-hundred meters for ten seconds doesn't mean I'm a complete failure!' With this, Naruto began to breathe in for another go at it, just to be interrupted by an eraser impacting his head.

"Uzumaki Naruto will you stop disrupting the class!" the teacher called out from the front of the room.

As far as things went, Naruto like Umino Iruka much more than he had liked the teachers from his previous years. While they were boring and almost never broke their monotone lectures, Iruka made things at least somewhat more interesting. That wouldn't stop Naruto from firing back a barb though.

"Maybe if this class wasn't so boring then I wouldn't! Teach us some awesome jutsu!" All this did though was earn him a stick of chalk to his forehead and yet another detention.

"**At this rate, you're even going to drive me crazy, kid..."**

* * *

"Come on Iruka-sensei! You've made me clap out the erasers of six classrooms already, can't I be done now?" Naruto complained, taking a quick glance at his teacher, who was watching him while grading papers. With a sigh, Iruka stood up and moved towards the door.

"Okay Naruto, I hope you've learned your lesson this time. This is the third time this week you've done this, and next time you'll be scrubbing the floors with the janitors all afternoon." Iruka said. "I should be heading home now myself. I have to do the final preparations for tomorrow's quiz. You did remember that tomorrow is the first quiz, right?"

"Erm... Yeah, of course I did sensei! I guess that I'll be off now." And with that, Naruto dropped the erasers back onto Iruka's desk and ran from the building as fast as he possibly could. About halfway home he slowed, mostly due to the voice in his head.

"**I have decided. It is obvious that you are getting nowhere with 'Aura Whisper' at this point. Instead, we will begin another shout. You may choose to learn the first word of either 'Disarm' or 'Elemental Fury'." **The Kyuubi said, giving Naruto a choice instead of deciding which one would be best.

'Hmmmm...' Naruto's thoughts were racing. 'Elemental Fury' sounded like it would be something badass, like a blast of fire, wind and lightning all together, but he still wasn't quite sure. 'Could you explain what each one does before I make the choice?' Naruto wasn't sure how, but he could feel the Kyuubi smile at him.

"**Interesting, I am impressed that instead of going straight for the one that sounded 'badass' you decided to go with the smart option of learning what they do first." **With this, Naruto couldn't help but have a sheepish look on his face, the Kyuubi knew what he had expected. **"Very well, I will explain them to you. Neither are straightforward attacks, they are both more supplementary. 'Elemental Fury' harnesses the powers of wind and channels it through your limbs, allowing you to move and strike with more speed than before. While this shout does not increase your strength directly, the momentum of your attacks will cause more damage than they otherwise would."**

'Huh, that's not what I expected, but it still sounds cool. What about 'Disarm'? What does it do?'

"**I was getting there, be patient. Now, 'Disarm' does exactly what it sounds like it would do. Its power targets the opponent's hands. If your shout overpowers their grip, which gets easier with each word of the shout, it causes their hand to fully open. While this can cause them to drop their weapon, it has other more interesting effects." **The Kyuubi's explanation began. **"While I did not need to use this shout often for that purpose, seeing as kunai and swords do not bother me much, I did have another use for it. With the same principles, you can use this shout to disrupt your opponent's hand seals. Say your opponent is using a jutsu that needs fifteen hand seals, if you hit them with 'Disarm' when they are fourteen seals in, then the jutsu may not have the desired effect. Though, I do not suggest relying on this tactic, as many ninja can master jutsu to only need one or two of the seals."**

And with that, Naruto had chosen. Both of the shouts sounded useful, but one thing stuck out at him as being the deciding factor.

'While 'Disarm' sounds like it'd be really cool, I don't have anybody that I could practice it on. I guess that I'll go with 'Elemental Fury'.' Naruto thought, arriving at his apartment and going inside.

"**Then let us begin. The first word in elemental fury is 'Su' which means 'air'. Harnessing the power of this word begins with..."**

And so began Naruto's training into his next word of power.

* * *

_**~One month later**_

Naruto grinned as he felt the wind in his hair while he ran around the training spot he was using for that day, tapping trees with light punches and kicks. To most chunin, he might as well have been standing still, but for anybody who knew Naruto they would have been surprised at his current speed.

"This is great!" Naruto shouted as he stopped and started firing off what was to him a blisteringly fast barrage of punches into the air, only for them to slow down. "Twelve seconds that time again! Next time, I'll get it to thirteen for sure! _Su_!"

One month was all it took Naruto to get this far with his new shout. The Kyuubi was impressed by how fast Naruto was learning the new shout, though it wasn't complete. As Naruto once again slowed back down to normal after twelve seconds.

"**Remember, you still have room to improve. The power of the first word of this shout can last a maximum of fifteen seconds, and it should make your attacks about 50% faster. Right now, you can get twelve seconds at 35% faster. Until you can get both of them to their limits, you cannot even begin to learn the next word." **The Kyuubi said, both trying to inspire Naruto to do better while letting him know that he was still not as good as he could be.

'Hey Kyuubi, what exactly do the other words of this shout do? And why is this shout so much easier than the others were?' Naruto asked, trying to understand why he was doing so good instead of just accepting it. This impressed the Kyuubi, who was getting used to not having a Naruto that was all about just learning cool jutsu.

"**The other words of 'Elemental Fury' do not extend the time limit, all they do increase the speed that you move with. Upon mastering the third word, you should be able to move no less than twice your normal speed when using it. As for why you are learning this word so easily, I can only give a guess on what that reason is."**

'And that is?' Naruto asked, taking a short break to get a drink of water.

"**If I am correct, it means that you have an affinity to wind chakra."**

'Uhhhhh...'

With a short sigh, the Kyuubi began to explain. **"Most ninja have at least one of what is known as a chakra affinity. If the ninja has an affinity to an element of chakra, they can learn jutsu of that element much faster. In addition, those jutsu would be much more powerful than somebody's who did not have the affinity for that element."**

'So that means that I should be able to use wind ninjutsu easier.' Naruto thought. 'Wait, what about 'Unrelenting Force'? What element is that?'

"**It is not an element at all. Some shouts, like 'Unrelenting Force', do not have an elemental orientation. 'Unrelenting Force' is, at the stage you know it, simply about forcing your chakra to fly at a target to make them lose their balance. The second word gives it a push, letting it fly faster, farther and with more power than the first word does alone, and the third word balances out the first two to amplify their effects." **

Surprisingly, Naruto was able to follow what the Kyuubi had explained. By the end of the explanation, Naruto was barely containing his excitement.

'Wait, you explained the next words of 'Unrelenting Force'! Does that mean that once I get 'Su' down, you'll teach me the next word?' Naruto's enthusiasm was still growing, he couldn't wait to get his hands on the more powerful techniques that were potentially being offered.

"**It is very likely that the next word I will teach you will be from 'Unrelenting Force'. For now though, get back to training 'Elemental Fury'."**

"Okay then! Dattebayo!"

"**If you ever want another word of power in your life, you will never do that again. I thought we had broken you of that."**

'Sorry!'

* * *

_**~One Week Later**_

'This is it!' Naruto thought, sitting in the classroom anxiously. He was ready for this! There was no Neji to worry about this year, the first taijutsu spar of the year was finally here. Last year he always seemed to paired against the bigger, stronger kids in the class, causing his taijutsu grades to be at the bottom of the male students. This year though, he wasn't a year younger, he could manage to have a good showing against his peers. Just as he was beginning to twitch from excitement, the white-haired teacher, Mizuki was his name, spoke up.

"Okay students, now that we've had enough history lessons and technique theories to get you started for the year, let's meet up outside to have our first taijutsu spar of the year." As Mizuki finished, some of the students raced out the door as fast as they could. Amongst these students were the two loudest male students, Naruto and Kiba.

"Out of my way Kiba! I'm going to be the first one there!" Naruto shouted as he tried to run past Kiba, just for an extended leg from another student trip him up.

"You won't be first in anything if you're laying there in the dust, you idiot!" Kiba laughed as he continued his race to the sparring field outside, Akamaru giving a bark of laughter also.

'I hope I get to kick his ass first!' Naruto thought as he picked himself up off the ground. As he dusted himself off, he heard a familiar voice in his head.

"**Today would be a good day to test out using 'Elemental Fury' in an actual fight. As long as you can control it to only a small boost of speed, you should be able to keep it a secret. Think of it as additional training in controlling the effects of a shout. Also, you should not use it as a shout, whisper it out so as to take your foe off guard. No good can ever come from warning your opponent that a technique is coming."**

With a grin, Naruto continued on his way outside. Not only would he get to kick somebody's ass in a spar, he'd be able to test out a shout against somebody in combat for the first time. Once the sparring partners were announced however, he realised that even with 'Su' he could be in for some trouble.

"...and in the third spar, we will have Uchiha Sasuke fight against Uzumaki Naruto. Next we have..." Mizuki continued to call out the sparring partners as Naruto began to size up his opponent.

'Of course,' Naruto thought, 'I would be put up against the guy who people say is the best in taijutsu in the class. I guess I'll just have to prove that I'm better!'

With that, Naruto had to wait through the first few spars. The first one he found quite boring, neither of the two boys using anything but the basic academy moves. The next spar however proved much more interesting.

"Okay, now could Inuzuka Kiba and Akamichi Choji please take their places and make the seal of confrontation." Mizuki's voice called out over the class.

As the two squared off, Naruto's attention was firmly on the two of them. While he hadn't been the best student the past few years, he had learned that it was better to try to understand what was going on instead of just winging it. When the fight started, Naruto could easily tell the differences between the two fighters. Kiba had darted in low with a quick punch, trying to overwhelm his opponent with speed. This was a good plan as Choji had hesitated, allowing Kiba to land a good blow to Choji's stomach. That was where the good news ended for Kiba though, as Choji retaliated with a strong left hook that grazed Kiba's shoulder, forcing him back with a cringe.

With that first exchange done, Naruto quickly went over what he had seen. 'I see, so Kiba tried to use his speed to hit Choji and take him out before he could fight back.' His thoughts began. 'Choji knew he could take the hit, and let himself take a small hit so that he could deliver a powerful one, but Kiba was able to dodge most of it.'

"**It seems that your analysis is correct. Kiba looks to be a speed based fighter, while Choji is a more power based fighter. Both of them can generate a good amount of force with their attacks, but for different reasons."** The Kyuubi explained. **"I am glad that your focus on understanding the words of power has also carried over to understanding how others fight."**

While Naruto and the Kyuubi had been analysing what they had seen, the spar was called and the two gave the seal of reconciliation, before going back to watch the next spars. With that, Naruto jumped into his place on the sparring field without needing to be called on. As he prepared across from Sasuke, who had calmly walked into his spot, the two got ready to spar.

"Okay then, the next match is between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. Begin!" Mizuki called out, and unseen joy in him at the thought of watching Sasuke beat up Naruto.

'Okay, time to test the waters first.' Naruto thought, moving towards Sasuke to attack. As he threw a punch though, he found a foot planted in his stomach, forcing him back and knocking the wind out of him.

'I see, so he's just as strong as I am, and he's fast enough to counter my attacks. Time to step this up a bit.' "_Su."_ Naruto whispered out. As he finished the word, he felt the air around him flow differently, granting him the familiar speed boost that he loved. 'I don't have long with this though, only fourteen seconds now. I've gotta end this fast!'

Naruto rushed in again with a grin, this time noticeably faster than before. This time when Sasuke went to kick him away, Naruto batted aside the leg and tried to go for a haymaker, being similarly deflected by Sasuke's arm. The spar quickly became a test of Naruto's unrefined speed against the solid taijutsu of Sasuke. While they seemed evenly matched, Naruto quickly realised what was going to happen.

'Oh no, not now!' Naruto thought out as he felt his shout wear off, just as he was moving to block a punch. Without his boosted speed though, he couldn't move fast enough to stop himself from being punched in the face, knocking him out.

* * *

"You really should be more careful, Naruto." Iruka said, as he helped patch up Naruto after his spar. "You're going to have a nasty shiner there, that's for sure."

"Don't worry about it Iruka-sensei. If it had been anybody other than Sasuke, I'd have won. Besides, this'll just be a reminder to duck next time instead of block." Naruto said, before getting up and leaving the infirmary. As he walked back to the sparring field, he saw Sasuke leaning against a nearby wall, for once not surrounded by the girls in his class. Taking this as an opportunity to say what he thought, Naruto spoke up.

"Hey Sasuke, good match! I almost had you, maybe next time you'll be the one on the ground!"

"Hn. I doubt it, but at least you kept up for more than five seconds. That's more than the others can say." Sasuke retorted, giving a backhanded compliment that confused Naruto, but at the same time made him smile. Yeah, today had been a good day.

* * *

Naruto gave a relieved sigh as he sat at his table. The academy was at least getting somewhat more interesting with the spars. As he settled in and began to enjoy his ramen, he heard his favorite teacher speak to him.

"**You are just about done with the first word of 'Elemental Fury'. I have to admit, I was originally expecting you to take six months to reach this stage." **The Kyuubi said. **"I believe that it is time for you to take 'Unrelenting Force' to the next level. Are you ready?"**

'Yes! I can't wait to learn it! You said the next word helps push the force of the first word, what else does it do?' Naruto thought excitedly.

"**Be patient, brat. In order to understand and feel the next word within you, you must become more calm."** The Kyuubi began. **"'Ro', which means 'push', requires focus to learn. While the first word is just brute force channeled at your target. 'Ro' needs you to direct the energy in the way you want it to be. While it can push the energy faster and farther than the first word can, it can also be used for other things."**

'What else can it be used for?'

"**My favorite use of it is to instead of focusing the blast forward in a line to focus it outwards into a cone. By doing this, it turns a basic linear attack into a more supportive role. While the linear attack can cause incoming projectiles to be sent back at the opponent, the cone still has some force to it. It can be used to slow or stop incoming projectiles and jutsu in a much wider area, allowing you to protect a large amount of area, or allies." **The Kyuubi's explanation was long and confusing, and Naruto wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

'So how do you change how you are pushing the energy out, and does it have even more uses?' Naruto questioned.

"**That is something that you should learn for yourself. Once you can understand this, you should be able to learn other words easier than you already are."**

'Okay then! I guess it's off to work then!'

_**~End Chapter 3**_

* * *

**Well, this chapter was long overdue, to the point where I had forgotten what I had originally planned out for it. I feel like what I wrote has a good feel to it. Now that I'm back into the swing of writing, I should be able to get out at least one chapter a week... At least until I start moving into a new apartment. Trust me, being 20 and dealing with a 14 year old younger sister all the time sucks, I need to get free of my parents' house.**

**As I said at the end of last chapter, the next chapter will have the story line really coming into play with the Graduation exam. Also, there will be quite a few things that change about the supporting characters, as seen in this chapter with the start of rivalries between Naruto and his classmates. In conclusion, music is a great way to get into the mood to write. You could say that it's a "Miracle of Sound". (**_**HINT HINT)**_

**Well, it's time for me to get ready for work. As always, I appreciate your reviews and I'm hoping to have some input from you readers by the time I get back in... 9 hours... Yep...**


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